Association of Maternal Opioid Use in Pregnancy With Adverse Perinatal Outcomes in Ontario, Canada, From 2012 to 2018

Source:

Corsi DJ, Hsu H, Fell DB, Wen SW, Walker M. Association of Maternal Opioid Use in Pregnancy With Adverse Perinatal Outcomes in Ontario, Canada, From 2012 to 2018. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(7):e208256. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.8256

Key Points

Question  What are the trends in opioid use in pregnancy and is there an association between prenatal opioid use and perinatal outcomes?

Findings  In this cohort study that included 804 346 births, 8059 women reported opioid use, and the rate of opioid use declined from 1.31% in 2012 to 2013 to 1.05% in 2017 to 2018. Use was higher among lower socioeconomic status groups and was associated with a 60% increase in risk of preterm birth before a gestational age of 37 weeks (14.0% among women with opioid use vs 6.0% in those with no use).

Meaning  These findings suggest that opioid use in pregnancy is associated with higher rates of preterm birth and admission to neonatal intensive care after adjustment for confounding factors, and that rates of use have declined in recent years.